WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM

Friday, April 27, 2007

DRAFT DAY

2PM UPDATE:DOLPHINS DRAFT SHOCKER.Fins pass on pretty boy passer Brady Quinn. Big reach for Ohio State WR Ted Ginn, Jr. What's going on here? Rumpole says: all is not lost for long suffering Fin fans. Our Dolphins have loads of second round picks, including the number 40 overall (#8 in round two). Watch the Dolphins grab Drew Stanton from from Michigan State or our personal favorite: Trent Edwards from Stanford (Blake). He's big, he's smart, he has a gun for an arm. If that happens, the Dolphin brain-trust might just be smarter than we are all thinking at the moment. Stay tuned. Today is the NFL Draft. If you read the papers this morning, the Dolphins are primed to blow it again. The Herald reported that the Dolphins want to move up in the draft to get Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn (warming the heart of Federal Judge Moreno) IF he is available after the Cleveland Browns pick at 3. IF Quinn is available at 3, the Browns will draft him. So If the Dolphins want Quinn, they need to move to number 2, and at that spot there are better players. But more importantly, IF Quinn is not drafted at 3, then in all likelihood, he will fall to 9, where the Fins can grab him. So IF Quinn is not drafted at 3, there is no need to move up.That's our expert draft analysis.

Rick Freedman reported yesterday that the Florida Legislature has killed the Court Appointment system as we know it. That might not be a bad thing. More on that next week. Rick Freedman also reported that Judge Venzer was not aware of the Orders of the Court posted on the front of the door to the entrance to her court banning cell phones. Here are our thoughts: 1) Ignorance of the law is no excuse. This is a constructive possession case, and we still think she knew or should have known about the orders posted on her courtroom's front door. 2) Judge Venzer is not a bad judge and this is not a personal attack on her. The point of the post yesterday is that judges need to be aware that the Public follows the orders of the court because that is what they are supposed to do. The integrity and respect a court has is a fragile thing, and every judge needs to be aware of everything the pubic sees and hears when they enter a courtroom. Point made, controversy over. See You In Court Monday complaining about the Dolphins. Again.

15 comments:

To all of my JUDGE colleagues: be aware that the investigative reporters from ch. 4 and the Miami Herald are reportedly monitoring the Judges who leave the court house early and have been seen picking up their children, golfing in the early afternoons and taking more than their reasonable vacation time. They also will be reporting on certain Judges at the Judicial conferences and how their official time was spent during educational periods of time and the receipts turned in for expenses of familiy members and for items not covered by State rules. They are compiling quite a blockbuster week report and should cause many Judge's much concern for their jobs.

I'm a bit busy today, but I want to put some rumors about J Blecher to rest. He is my client. He will be picked by the dolphins in the supplemental DUI draft. While his DMV numbers are not the best, they are not the worst either.

When you evaluate a DUI lawyer, you look to see if they move well to the left or right. Facing the bench, a DUI lawyer like Blecher that moves well to his right, makes great deals for his clients with the State. A DUI lawyer that moves well to his left, tries a lot of cases. The Dolphins want a deal maker and thats what they're getting at number 9.

Maybe with the end of the Court Appointment system, defendants will stop abusing the same system that declares them indigent. Maybe these defendants that are posting $50,000 bond premiums will be forced to cough up some retainer money and hire someone privately...there, my friends, is the rub. If mommy and uncle junior can put a 2nd mortgage on the house for bond, they can cough up money to hire someone. Hmmmm....

OMG do you think the mommy-track judges will be featured. You bet. This perception by some of our women colleagues that they can short change the public while being semi-employed and full time mommies, has to come to an end.

Enough with calenders that start at 9:45 and days that end after lunch so we can go over to Key Biscayne or Pinecrest to pick up the kids. Or how about a Court of Appeal judge that just got appointed who hardly works from home and almost never goes to the office.

Unfortunatley, there will be temporary emabarassment, some of those featured will make a few adjustments, try a few cases and then soon things will be back to normal.

As to those "golfing guys" the same applies. It is time (although it won't happen) for judges to start realizing they owe the public more than just a half a day. It is time for those who look at the job as parttime and semi-retirement to get out of the way for those who want to do the job right.

Go Channel 4 and the Herald, roast the guilty ones until they are well done!!!!

The Dolphins just chose Brady Quinn, what, no, we chose who - Ted Ginn, from Ohio State. Now Culpepper can stand in the pocket and throw the ball to Ginn. Nice job Miami. Of course, the only reason you had to chose Ginn was because you wouldn't pay the MVP of the team for the past two years, Wes Welker.

Now we can give Ginn something like a $12 million dollar signing bonus and pray that he is healthy enough to compete. (some fans may remember the National Championship game, Gators v. Ohio State, where Ginn got severely injured and has not fully recovered).

an awful weekend for miami sports fans. marlins lose last night,heat get cooled and maybe the brooms come out sunday. the fins blow a first round pick with guinn jr. who could celebrate in the end zone without getting hurt. another wasted pick. bring back wes/

Brownies gave up a first round pick next year for Brady in a trade with the cowboys. What a bunch-a-dopes! The more I think about this, the more I think the Fins did the right thing, but they need to grab a good QB in the second round. You should almost never select a QB in the first round. They demand too much money, and most don't make it. So far I like the Dolphins pick. Time will tell.

It appears from recent posts by Rick Freedman and FACDL Secty Brian Tannenbaum that the court appointment system as we know it is dead. I think Rick, Brian and others put forth a great effort on our behalf and this post should not be read as a criticism of those efforts. They are probably right, but may not be. There is a week left in the legislative session and I and others are not ready to quit yet. About ten thousand dollars has already been raised to hire a different lobbyist from the one used by FACDL and more money is needed. The lobbyist has given us a concrete suggestion on how to allocate any funds raised. A group of us are going to meet in the cafeteria at 11AM on Monday to discuss this issue further. Please come and bring your checkbooks. I am not a political person and this is a new area for me. I do not pretend to know all the answers.

Well, according to the Judge Steve Leifman Doctrine, all Judges work full-time regardless of whether they work part-time or not at all. As long as they hear a calendar or two a in a month, they are considered full-timers. Addi tonally, anyone who states the opposite, will receive a complaint as well as be prosecuted by the Miami-Dade County Ethics Committee, The Florida Bar and the DCBA. Want more, well just try making the good judges (and the bad ones too) look bad and we will show you our muscle!

I am not sure what to think about the fact that the new QB coach for the Dolphins was Quinn's tutor at ND: the fact that despite that he got passed over doesn't seem to bode well for the new Brown or say much about his talent, but nonetheless since the Dolphins ostensibly recruited BQ for the job, it seems to prove ever more that professional sports aren't at all about loyalty or honesty than mere money.